Easily confused with : Sand Leek (Allium scorodoprasum) but that has the stamens that do not protrude from the flower, and its leaves are flat whereas they are cylindrical and hollow on Crow Garlic. Also, Crow Garlic can grow larger than the 2 feet of Sand Leek; up to 4 feet tall.

Many similarities to Round-Headed Leek (Allium sphaerocephalon) but that has two papery sheaths enclosing the bulbils (rather than the one of Crow Garlic), and the stem of Round-Headed Leek is hollow (whereas that of Crow Garlic is solid or nearly so).

Some similarities to : Garlic, Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum) (where the stamens do not protrude) and to Keeled Garlic (Allium carinatum) (where the petals are not pointed but rounded at the ends and the two papery bracts once encompassing all the bulbils are very long).

No relation to : Crowfoots, Water Crowfoots or Crowberry [plants with similar names].

This plant is by far the commonest Garlic plant that possesses bulbils, which are purple. It is usually without flowers and of medium height, but can reach 1.2m. The flowers vary in colour from red to pink or greenish-pink and are 2 to 4mm, in an untidy spray at the summit on long thin somewhat droopy flower stalks. Crucially the stamens protrude from the bell opening, un-like those of the similar Sand Leek. The papery bracts form a short spire on top as they do on Garlic (Allium sativum), much shorter than the very long spire of Field Garlic (Allium oleraceum) or the even longer papery bracts of Keeled Garlic (Allium carinatum).

Although the stems are long, thin and round they are extremely tough and do not yield to breaking with bare hands. The plant smells of garlic if crushed. The bulbils are the means by which it propagates when they fall to the ground.

Grows in bare and grassy places, sometimes becoming a nuisance on arable fields.